Heatha Nero Verde leads the death wrestler Awkurow through the CHISHOLM, to try to help him understand the mentality of the Galactics. As Awkurow learns that Lor-Eli Alucc is dying due to the Para-flickering, he sees an opportunity, for how to improve the still fragile relationship between the Galactics and death wrestlers. Although he was ejected from his people because of his past behavior and has to expect death by returning, he still takes Heatha Nero Verde and Sinaid Velderbilt into the underworld of Orontes. Although he is cruelly punished, the death wrestler ultimately sees his plan fulfilled. His people allow him to bring the autistic death wrestler Retepko to the CHISHOLM. Retepko’s Para-gift enables the damping of hyperenergetic influences. In this way Retepko shields Lor-Eli from the Para-flickering, so that Pic Lershimon can heal her.

Meanwhile, Perry Rhodan tries to aids the embattled BASIS corvettes SENCO AHRAT and HARL DEPHIN with the MIKRU-JON, but must soon discover that even the superior means of his ship are not sufficient to free his companions. Both Corvettes are badly damaged; the HARL Dephin can barely maneuver under its own power. More than seven hundred units of two races from the matter bridge of Chanda have encircled the corvettes. On the one hand, there are the Quolnäer Keretzen with their winged ships, and on the other are tulip shaped ships of the plant beings who call themselves the Sabyren. Both groups are battling each other, but end up working together against the Galactics. Despite all his efforts, the corvettes are at risk of being destroyed. The attackers are merciless and do not respond to attempts at contact. Rhodan cannot do anything - he can only choose to either save his own ship or to die along with the corvettes.

Pucky jumps into a unit of the Quolnäer Keretzen to explore and finds out that these beings, whose faces are dominated by oversized, downward curved tusks, only stand three feet tall, but are extremely aggressive and dangerous. The aggression of individuals and groups builds up again and again, like the Halutian pressure urge, so that they can no longer be stopped from attacking. They have no command structure, but a kind of swarm instinct that directs larger sized groups. Every individual being has a higher level of consciousness or a kind of psi-organ: the Tantoram. All these beings are connected by the Tantoram and somehow connected with their ships. The Tantoram can gain the upper hand and cause the Quolnäer Keretzen to repulse Para-gifts. It is also possible for them to emit a death pulse, which the Galactics call a flash wave. This causes the Quolnäer Keretzen to commit suicide and tear all living being in close vicinity with them to their doom. As the MIKRU-JON is caught up in the border of a flash wave, the state of Ramoz changes again in a strange manner, as the cocoon of tendrils wrapping him captures all the energy of the death impulse in the ship.

At the last moment the two three hundred meter battle cruisers MISSISSIPPI and TUBLIR materialize. With their heavy armament and the element of surprise on their side they shoot the three other ships an escape corridor. All five units flee into the corona of a nearby sun. There, the corvettes can be repaired, so that finally a common attempt to break through the cordon of enemy ships can be started. The environment of the sun, however, was mined. The MISSISSIPPI remains to give breathing room to the other ships, but is heavily damaged doing so. Perry Rhodan tries to help, but has to flee when the Quolnäer Keretzen trigger another flash wave. Rhodan, who has mentally joined as pilot with the MIKRU-JON, directs the energy to a "lightning rod": Ramoz or actually the cocoon which he is surrounded by. It captures the death impulse. All of a sudden the little lynx like being transforms into a man sized humanoid. He asks Mondra whether she likes his actual shape and comments that it is nice to be back home...